Meade LXD75 Heavy Duty German Equatorial Mount with Heavy Duty Tripod & #497 AutoStar handbox with 30,000+ Object Library.
by Meade
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: MeadeDigital Cameras Photo Reviews of Meade LXD75 Heavy Duty German Equatorial Mount with Heavy Duty Tripod & #497 AutoStar handbox with 30,000+ Object Library.
Customer Review: HEAVY is the key word here.
Summary: 4 Stars
It really is heavy. When you see the shipping weight you know it's going to be heavy. You don't really appreciate the mass till you actually lay hands on it. My first impression was utter disappointment though. The moment I powered on the mount it moved about an inch and began making horrible grinding noises.
After a few minutes I found the problem. The motor drive for the RA axis had moved. the gears were just barely touching. It seems the factory had left the bolt for the RA gearbox loose. Yes I said "bolt" there is just one and it is carefully hidden.
OK, after that scare I got the motors properly bolted in place. I went over the whole mount. I found lots of loose bolts. This doesn't speak well for Meade's QA. These mounts are Chinese made and allegedly inspected by Meade before shipping. Evidently that inspection doesn't get past counting the parts in the box.
The manual mostly covers Meade's scopes that can be included with this mount. If you are getting the mount only it's pretty unlikely one of those scopes are going to be sitting on the mount. The assembly directions are fairly complete but there nothing covering the actual operation of the mount. It's basically a component identification and good luck. Nothing on how to configure the polar alignment scope or any maintenance instructions. How to adjust the motors would be really nice since they were shipped basically unbolted.
After the initial trouble I got my scope (8" Newt) mounted and a clear night. I was really impressed with the tracking and GOTO accuracy of the scope. Even with my feeble attempt at polar alignment the mount performed very well. The mount really is heavy duty and bumping the scope is not going to knock it out of alignment.
The mount is very quiet when tracking but when slewing it's pretty loud. The noise doesn't bother me but some may find it annoying. There is an option to make the mount slew more slowly and therefore more quietly.
Pros: Really is heavy duty. Polar scope included. Quiet when tracking. Accurate tracking and Goto.
Cons: Really is heavy, wear a back brace! Initial quality, Look out for loose bolts. Documentation it pretty weak.
Description of Meade LXD75 Heavy Duty German Equatorial Mount with Heavy Duty Tripod & #497 AutoStar handbox with 30,000+ Object Library.
The Stable Meade LXD75 German Equatorial Mount... Sturdy Mount with Heavy-Duty Castings: Designed by Meade's engineers and manufactured for high-performance observing and astrophotography. Shaft & Bearing System: The sturdy German Equatorial Mount is accurate & precise. The RA & Dec axes move effortlessly on 4 high-precision stainless steel ball bearings. High-Precision Worm Gears: Located on both axes for smooth tracking & slewing. Heavy-Duty Tripod: Variable-height field tripod with spreader bar brace provides the stability & vibration damping required for visual observation and astrophotography. Illuminated Polar Alignment Viewfinder: For quick, precise polar alignment. Power Supply: Powered by 8 D-size batteries. Can also be powered by optional car cigarette lighter or AC wall adapter. One of the most important advances in telescope control in the past 25 years, the Meade #497 Autostar Computer Controller turns the ETX-90AT, ETX-105AT, or ETX-125AT into an automatic celestial object locating system. Just plug the Autostar into the telescope's HBX port, do a quick, less than one minute, telescope alignment, & you're ready to observe any object in the Autostar's 30,000-object database. Best of all, the Meade Autostar is easy to use. Even the most novice observer will find himself or herself locating dozens of fascinating celestial objects the very first night out - from commonlOther Telescope Accessories
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